Sickness and Health
by YukitoK
Summary: Post tv series, by like three years. Kenshin gets a serious desease and his enemies take the opprotunity to attack. R for a lot of blood and angst. Kaoru and Kenshin are not married, this is not a romance...not anymore than the series was.
1. Nightmare

Chapter one: Nightmare

"Is there anything else you require of me tonight Kaoru?" Kenshin Himura asked quietly.

Kaoru looked up from her sewing, "Um…no I don't think so Kenshin."

He smiled, "Well then I think I'll go to bed, if you don't mind."

She smiled back at him, "No of course not. You worked really hard today. Good night Kenshin, sleep well."

"Thank you Miss. Kaoru," he used the honorific without thinking, "And you as well," he lingered a moment longer, staring at the girl he had come to love.

"What is it Kenshin? What's wrong?"

He opened his mouth, but then closed it and shook his head, his red hair shifting slightly with the motion, "Nothing Kaoru, it's nothing," then he went to his room in the Kamiya dojo.

He had wanted to ask her tonight. Ask her what he had been meaning to for some time; ask her to marry him, but he just couldn't find the moment. He dug in his kimono sleeve and pulled out a small wooden box and opened it to study the ring that he had bought her, with a sigh he put it back.

"I am a fool, that I am," he lay down his futon and blankets, and put the sakabató against the wall. He had begun to sleep laying on the floor again, it had been so long…

He stripped down and changed in to his sleeping robe and hoped that this night's sleep would be free of nightmares, but this was not to be for the former Battó sai. The truth was he was just getting over a severe cold, and when he was sick the nightmares only became worse. Sleep came the moment he closed his haunted violet eyes.

__

"Kaoru? Where are you?" He called into the darkness, "Yahiko? Sanosuke?"

There was no answer to his call, a sudden pale light illuminated what was apparently the Kamiya dojo. Some thing was wrong, a tangy smell hung in the air.

"Blood?" Kenshin gasped, "Miss. Kaoru!"

He ran to her room and slammed open the sliding door, and he let out a gasp, his heart in his throat. Sano lay in the middle of the disheveled room, a knife in his chest, "SANO!"

He lay his friend's head on his lap, "Sano what happened?"

The golden eyes fluttered open, "Kenshin," his voice was ragged and wet, choking on the blood in his mouth, "Kenshin?"

A tear graced Kenshin's pale face, "I'm here Sano. What happened, where's Yahiko and Kaoru?"

Sano coughed up blood, "Why did you do it Kenshin? I thought you loved her. Let me go, you're an imperialist bastard." He moved his head off the swordsman's lap.

"Sano I don't understand."

The open eyes of Sanosuke did not blink again and Kenshin closed them with a shaking hand.

"Kenshin…" he heard his name from out in the courtyard.

His eyes widened as he recognized the voice, "Tomo…It can't be."

He struggled out toward the courtyard, but tripped over something laying on the ground. Kenshin turned and gasped as he realized it was a body.

A small body.

A small body with spiky black hair.

"Yahiko, no," he crouched to study his small friend and began to cry, "He's dead."

The boy had been beaten horribly, his right arm was horribly mangled and broken, and he had been pierced through the stomach, his blood lay spilled on a layer of newly fallen snow, it was a slow and cruel death for one so young.

The red haired man hugged the body close to him, "Why? Ouch!" He put a hand to his left cheek and it came away sticky with blood. His scars were bleeding.

"Kenshin…"

"Kaoru!" He set Yahiko's body down and ran into the courtyard. Tomo lay dead in the snow and next to her, close enough to touch her hand, lay Kaoru, blood running down her face and her shoulder cut open much like Tomo.

"NO! KAORU!" He rushed to her side, "Kaoru, wake up, please."

Her purple eyes opened slowly, "Kenshin? Why did you kill them? You said you gave up being Battosai. You said you loved me, were they all lies?"

Kenshin's heart tightened painfully in his chest, "I did this? Miss. Kaoru I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on."

"I thought, after all we'd been through together that we could trust you to protect us from them…from yourself. I did love you Kenshin…I really and truly did…"

Her eyes went half-lidded and she went limp in his arms.

"NO!"

"Kenshin…"

"KAORU!"


	2. Illness

oh shit! Disclaimer! I don't own Kenshin, though god knows I wish I did. Um...shuffles feet sorry I'm mean to kenshin cowers please don't hit me.

Chapter two: Illness

"Kenshin wake up!"

Kaoru had been drawn to the room by Kenshin's restless cries. Yahiko slept like a log and of course didn't hear anything, but the night was quiet and her main room, where she had been sitting up with her stitching, was connected to Kenshin's.

She hesitated to touch him, but placing herself in between Kenshin and his sakabato she gently touched his forehead and pulled her hand back instantly, "You have a fever. Oh Kenshin please wake up, come on."

"KAORU! NO!" Tears poured down his pale cheeks.

"Kenshin I'm here, please wake up. Yahiko! YAHIKO!"

The former Bottosai's beautiful eyes opened, but he didn't seem to be out of his nightmare.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru questioned.

"Kaoru?"

She smiled, "Yes Kenshin, it's me."

He raised a hand and touched his scar in panic, "I killed you all. I…it was me…I…Kaoru."

She stroked his forehead, "It's okay, I'm here. You're going to be okay. You didn't kill anyone. YAHIKO!"

"What is it?" the boy asked, standing in the doorway, rubbing at the sleep in his eyes.

"Go get Megumi-san, quickly. Kenshin's really sick."

Yahiko was fully awake now, "Yeah, okay I'm on it. I'll bring her right here."

"Good," she pried Kenshin's hand away from his scar and held it tightly in her own, "Hold on my love. It's okay, I'm right here."

The swordsman coughed a dry, rough cough, covering his mouth with the blanket, his body heaving, "Kaoru, I'm sorry."

"It's okay Kenshin, It's okay." His eyes were clouded and she couldn't really catch his gaze. He was pale and trembled in her arms, she pulled a blanket up over him. He coughed into the covers some more.

"Kenshin," she lay him back down, "I'll go get you some water, I'll be back okay?"

He groaned, holding his chest, "I'll be all right, that I…uhn…will."

"Okay, you just lay there, I'll be right back," she kissed his forehead and ran for the well.

Megumi met her there, "Kaoru, how is Ken-san?"

"Pretty sick. He has a bad fever…" she turned to go back into the dojo, but Megumi held an arm across her chest, "No. Wait."

"I have to help him Miss. Megumi. He's sick."

Her beautiful face was resolute, "That why I can't let you in. If someone as healthy and strong as Ken-san is sick…it might be something serious. Now stop being stupid and tell me his symptoms."

Kaoru looked at Yahiko who was staring at the Dojo, "Well, high fever, he coughed a couple of times…"

"Wet or dry?"

She thought a moment, "Dry…and he held his chest as if it hurt him."

"Did he cough up anything?"

"No…why?" Kaoru was starting to panic.

"Calm down, has he been ill at all, in the last few weeks?"

"No, I don't think so…"

"He was sick, you didn't know," Yahiko spoke up, "He hasn't been moving as quickly, and I noticed him coughing or blowing his nose, when he thought no one was looking."

Megumi looked down at him, "A cold would you say?"

"Yeah, probably. Didn't seem too serious, but who knows?"

"I know what he has."

Kaoru was getting more and more scared, "What is it Miss. Megumi?"

"Pneumonia. There was a cold rain a couple of days ago, I assume he was out in it?"

"Yes," Kaoru said, in tears, "He was bringing the laundry in. I told him to. What's Pneumonia?"

"Don't blame yourself Kaoru. It's a lung infection, it's very dangerous, and if he's going to have any chance of survival, he needs our help NOW."

"What can we do?"

"First of all, I have to quarantine this Dojo. He's contagious and we can't risk it spreading. If we catch it, we're healthy enough that we should survive, and so should Ken-san, though he's been weakened by the cold, so he's in more trouble than we are," Megumi took a handkerchief and tied it tightly around her mouth and nose, "I'm going in to check on him, you two see if you can find any paint. You need to paint a quarantine sign on the doors. Then bring me two buckets of water and clean cloth."

"Right, come on Yahiko."

"Do not come in the house, you got that?"

"Yeah, we got it," Yahiko said.

"Okay."

Kaoru stopped and touched Megumi's arm, "Wait, can I help you? I don't want to leave him alone."

"He wont be alone, I'll be there."

"I know, but…"

"Alright Miss. Kaoru, if you really want to. Cover your mouth and nose and follow me," she looked to Yahiko, "I'm counting on you."

…

Kenshin was laying on his back staring at the ceiling, he turned his head to look when Megumi and Kaoru entered. He tried to smile, but it wasn't very convincing.

"If getting sick is all it takes to get you out here to visit, I should get sick more often."

"Don't say that Ken-san. It isn't funny," Megumi said kneeling at his side and touching his forehead.

Kenshin looked past her to Kaoru, "Miss. Kaoru, I have to tell you something…" he coughed and choked.

Megumi took a metal pan out of her bag, "Spit it into this."

He spit out a reddish-brown mass of lung tissue and blood, then fell back on the futon exhausted.

"Kenshin!"

"Miss. Kaoru I would ask you to go outside if you can't contain yourself."

"Sorry Megumi."

She ignored the apology, "Tip his chin up gently, very slightly. We need to make his airway as open as possible, he's going to have trouble breathing."

Kenshin did seem to be struggling for air, but he could speak, "Megumi-san? What's wrong with me?"

"Here's the water Megumi!" Yahiko called through the screen.

"Thank you Yahiko. Go gather your things and set up in the shed okay?"

"Yeah Okay. Get better Kenshin."

"Thank you Yahiko," He managed to rasp.

"You have pneumonia Ken-san," the lady doctor lay a wet towel on his forehead.

He looked at her sharply, "You're sure?"

"Yes."

"So this is how I die, that it is."

Kaoru shook her head, "Don't say that Kenshin."

"I've seen pneumonia at work Miss. Kaoru, I don't think I'm going to make it through this."

Megumi touched his shoulder, "I've seen many people survive it as well. You just need to rest."

"You have to live Kenshin, we need you."

He gave them a tiny smile through his pain, "I will do my best for you Kaoru."

Megumi stood up, "I have to go mix a medicine. If you find you can't breathe Ken-san, just relax and don't panic. This medicine should make it so the swelling in your throat goes down."

He smiled at her, "Yes ma'am, I understand."

Once Megumi had gone Kaoru touched his forehead gently, "Kenshin…can I tell you something?"

He nodded slightly, his voice quiet and pinched, "Of course Miss. Kaoru."

She blushed, "I…I love you."

His smile was large, and genuine this time, "Why thank you Kaoru. And I as well…I mean I love you as well…" he coughed.

"Oh Kenshin lay still. You shouldn't move, you probably shouldn't talk either."

He coughed up more infection into the metal pan, then he gasped and the breath rattled in his throat, he touched his neck with pale fingers.

Kaoru jumped up, "I'll go get Megumi, Kenshin, just hold on."

He nodded and she ran for the doctor.

* * *

I appoligise for the next chapter ahead of time, my villians are lacking. sorry again. 


	3. Proposal

I put these two chapters together, because three isn't that long. Hope this isn't too confusing for anyone.

Chapter three: the Red Dragon Clan

"We have to think of a way to get rid of that bastard Bottosai."

"It's impossible, he's too strong, you've seen him, as long as we stay away from his attention we're fine."

"He's right you know."

"Okay, that's why we need a plan."

The door slid open and a messenger stumbled in, "Guys! There's a quarantine sign painted on the Bottosai's door."

"Is it him? Is he the one who's sick?"

"I don't know, but it'd be worth looking in to."

"Definitely."

"And if it's him…he dies tonight."

"Agreed."

"That arrogant bastard is going down."

Chapter four: Proposal.

Kaoru came back in to Kenshin's room, "Kenshin, Megumi gave me the medicine she said she was making more so…KENSHIN!?"

He was sprawled out face down on the ground, his fingers on the pink top that he always wore.

She ran to his side and flipped him over, "Kenshin open your eyes." She put her cheek down by his nose, there was no air to warm her skin, "Kenshin breathe!" She began to cry, "Kenshin you said…please…breathe!"

She opened his mouth, and poured a little of the medicine in. For a moment nothing happened…then he gasped in a painful sounding breath of air, "Kao…ru…"

He began to suffocate again, and Kaoru desperately poured more medicine down his throat. He coughed but managed to swallow most of it.

"Are you okay?" Kaoru asked.

"'Okay' is stretching it maybe," he said, in his strange rasping whisper that still managed to be gentle, "But thanks to you and Megumi I'm better, that I am. Tired, but better."

"What were you trying to get? Miss. Megumi said that you weren't supposed to move around for a while."

"It was very important I can assure you."

"You shouldn't talk either. I wish you'd just relax. Where is it?"

"Where is what?"

"The thing you were trying to get?"

Kenshin tried to reach for his kimono top but his arm fell before he could grasp it.

"In here?" She picked up the shirt with the hand that wasn't holding up Kenshin's head.

He nodded, "Left sleeve."

She reached around inside the sleeve until she found what must have been what Kenshin was after.

"It's a box."

"Yes, it's…" He began to shiver.

"Oh Kenshin. Let's get you back into bed."

She half-carried, half-dragged him onto his futon and covered him gently with the blanket.

"Th…th…th…thank you Miss. Kaoru."

She put the box in his hand, "You're welcome, now rest easy."

He pushed the small box back into her hand, "This is yours, that it is."

"Mine? What is it?"

"I have to ask you something, something I should have asked you a long time ago Miss. Kaoru. Open it."

She did, a small ring with tiny violet stones sparkled happily at her in the candlelight.

"Kenshin?"

"Miss. Kamiya, I know it's not much of a ring, but would you do me the honor of being my wife?"

Her shocked eyes turned slowly into happiness, "Of course Kenshin. I'd love to."

He looked slightly amazed, "Really?"

"Yes…really."

"Is the ring okay? We can go back…and get another if you'd like."

Kaoru slipped it on her finger, tears in her eyes, "Absolutely not. This is beautiful…I love it, all the more because it's from you Kenshin. I would be very happy to be your wife."

She was rewarded with the brightest and most sincerely happy smile she had ever seen, "You do my heart good, that you do."

"And I as well. That's why you're going to rest and get better right?"

He nodded, his violet eyes half-lidded with exhaustion, "I hope so Miss. Kaoru, that I do. But you must be prepared, if my body fails me."

She hit the top of his head very lightly with a fist, in mockery of a punch, "You jerk, you can't just propose to me like that and then die," she started to cry again, "It wouldn't be fair, not like you at all."

He coughed, "Yes, I suppose not. But all the same, I did have to ask you. I couldn't die with out knowing your answer. But now…"

He turned into her kimono and struggled with the pain in his lungs, "You just must be prepared my dear Miss. Kaoru that you must. I'm sorry but that's the way it is."

She couldn't answer him.

He gasped in pain, "I want you to promise me something, that I do."

"Okay, what?"

"If I do die, you will continue living, and find a good, kind man and raise a family and forget about me and be happy."

Kaoru began sobbing, "Don't say that…please…'

"I have to Lady Kaoru," he smiled an reached up to touch her face, "I'm glad…I'm glad I'm dying from an illness, at your side, rather than by a sword. But one way or another, I accepted my own death long ago, I am at peace," he let his hand drop, "That I am. I have to know that you will enjoy the same peace that I feel now, that I most certainly do."

She sniffed, "I promise I'll live, but I will never forget you Kenshin."

His smile turned the slightest bit sad at the edges, "Not true, someday you will. You'll be sitting in your dojo with your children, your husband…and you'll be so happy that every thought and feeling of me will be gone. It's okay…it's life, that it is," he squirmed in pain, and coughed up some more infected lung tissue.

"Kenshin…I…"

He didn't respond…he was finally unconscious.

"I want that future with only you Kenshin."

* * *

I hope the proposal was good enough for everyone. smile it only gets worse from here I'm afraid. 


	4. The Red Dragon Attacks!

Sorry, this is cut short. I have no more, so I thought I'd just offer up what I had. Sorry to cut it off so abruptly!

Chapter four: The Red Dragon Attacks!

A Red Dragon ninja sat up in a tree observing the Kamiya Dojo, he watched the Kaoru girl exit the house and remove her facemask. He smiled to himself and disappeared into the shadows. He knew now that it was the Bottosai who was ill and tonight would be his last night to live.

The rest of the Aki-Ryu were waiting in an alleyway close by. He nodded at the leader, a British man by the name of Giovanni, and they took off, toward the Kamiya Dojo.

"He'll pay for killing my wife."

Megumi was on her way back from the well, when she heard a knock on the gate. She set down the water buckets and walked up to it, "Who is it?"

There was a pause, "It's Sanosuke, who else? What's with the 'quarantine' eh Megumi?"

She sighed, "You can't come in. Kenshin's got Pneumonia, I can't risk it spreading through the city."

"Pneumonia huh? That's not good…"

Something I his tone made her question, "Why not…besides the obvious reasons?"

"Well Missy, if someone wants to pummel Kenshin…this would be a good opportunity, don't you think? So you better let me in."

"Poor excuse… yeah okay come in," She lifted the heavy wooden brace that kept the door closed, and Sano strolled in.

"You should really take that sign off the door," He grabbed it and broke it over his knee, "it really draws suspicion. Just lock it."

Megumi rolled her eyes, "Do it yourself."

"Yes ma'am," he went to lift the board, but dropped it with a gasp when a short sword thanked into the other side, "Who's there?" before he could react something flew in his face, blinding him, "AH!"

The red dragon group stepped out of the shadows, and clubbed the fighter over the head.

"Sano!" Megumi gasped, but soon she was blinded as well, "KAORU, KENSHIN! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" A hard crack to the head soon had her on the ground as well.

Giovanni smiled down at their bodies, "You cannot defeat me. I will kill your friend, to revenge him killing my wife. I'm sorry."

"Hold it right there!"

Kaoru stood in front of the door to Kenshin's room, her arms outstretched, "You can't come in, you'll have to get through me first."

Kenshin's sleep was heavy with bad dreams, he awoke to a strange male voice outside his room.

"Step aside little girl, I'm here for the Battosai's head."

"I won't move!"

"Kaoru…" The pain in his chest was growing more painful and he still had considerable trouble breathing, but he tried to struggle to his feet.

"Then you'll die!"

"I won't let you get to Kenshin."

"Then DIE!"

Kaoru flinched, her hands trying to cover her face.

"KAORU!" He cried, "NO!"

The blade never hit, Yahiko blocked the blade with a metal bar that had been in the shed, "Leave Kaoru alone you big bully."

Kenshin summoned his strength and turned over, reaching to grasp his sword. The room spun in a sickening way.

"Kaoru…AHHH!" His scream broke painfully in his throat. He fought over the pain in his chest and managed to tip over the sword and then grabbed the hilt. He struggled to his feet, coughing the entire way.

"I can't…" All he could see was Kaoru in his nightmare, dying in his arms, with condemning words on her pale lips.

"I must!" He straitened and walked shakily to the door, flinging it open, "Leave them alone…Yahiko!"

Giovanni had his sword to the young man's throat, "Let me go you bastard!"

"Take one more step Bottosai, and I'll kill him."

Kenshin fell to his knees and coughed roughly into his hands, "Leave him alone!"

Kaoru touched his shoulder, "Kenshin."

"Get inside Miss. Kaoru. I can't let anything happen to you."

"You're in no condition to fight."

Giovanni handed Yahiko over to one of his ninja's, "Hold the brat," he reached down and grabbed Kaoru around the neck, lifting her off the floor, "This one's mine," he kissed Kaoru's cheek, "Japanese women are so beautiful," he tore her hair ribbon off and threw it on the ground.

"Let her go! If you want my life, take it, but leave Miss. Kaoru alone," he had another coughing fit.

"No Kenshin…"

Giovanni put hand in his pocket an pulled out some dust, he threw it in Kaoru's face, she screamed in pain, then went slack.

"Miss. Kaoru! Miss. Kaoru speak to me!" He couldn't yell very loudly and his voice was hoarse.

He dropped her and she collapsed in a heap, "She is dead."

"NO! Miss. Kaoru…" He crawled painfully to her side, and pulled her onto his lap, "Oh no…" He began to cry, raw, rough sobs shaking in his throat, "I'm sorry Miss. Kaoru," He hugged her to his chest, "I'm so sorry," he began to rock back and fourth slowly, "No…no…Miss. Kaoru…I'm not strong enough for this."

Giovanni sneered, "You killed my wife Battosai, now you die!" He swung his sword down, and jumped back when Kenshin parried.

"So you do have strength left?"

"NO! YOU KILLED HER!" His rasping voice was frightening, his eyes narrowed, but they were not those of the Manslayer, they were the eyes of a man in desperate physical and emotional pain.

He swung at the Brit with a wild swing, off balance from his illness, Giovanni blocked the blow and it was all Kenshin could do to stay upright. Then he realized something a fraction of a second too late. His katana wasn't the only weapon Giovanni had. He slashed at the swordsman's middle with his dagger and cut a long, deep gash along Kenshin's chest.

The former Battosai struggled to stay on his feet. Desperate to survive.

"We'll kill you and this brat just like we killed the others," Giovanni pointed at Megumi and Sanosuke's bodies, still laying were they had fell.

"You killed them?" Kenshin's voice was low and dangerous, "why? WHY?!"

He struck again and was rewarded with a kick in the head. This time he did collapse, curling in upon his wounded stomach and aching lungs.

"Why?" Kenshin croaked, "Why?"

"You don't remember?" Giovanni said resting the tip of his sword on Kenshin's temple, "You killed my wife Bottosai. She was the love of my life, and we came here to try to help stop the war during the Meiji revolution, and you slaughtered her when I was out. I never even got to say goodbye. I've been searching for you for nineteen years, and now I have you in my grasp."

"Hey, we all have problems, but don't you think this is a little extreme for something that happened so long ago?" Came Sanosuke's voice from behind Giovanni, he and his men turned and looked at the fighter, surprised.

"Sano…" Kenshin smiled at him.

"You're all in big trouble now…"

Sanosuke started in on the men and looked like he was having the time of his life. Kenshin couldn't help but grin, he has such strange friends.

Giovanni turned away from Sanosuke fighting his men, back down to the fallen crimson haired man, "You will live tonight, but I am taking this woman with me."

He picked up Kaoru's body, and ran toward the gate.

"SANO, MISS. KAORU! He's getting a…way…" Blackness took over Kenshin's vision, and he gave himself up into it, "Miss. Kaoru…"

"Kenshin wake up!" Sanosuke's voice broke through the dark.

"Miss. Kaoru…" he didn't have breath to ask the whole question, but knew Sano would know what he meant.

"I couldn't catch him Kenshin, I'm sorry."

Tears filled Kenshin's eyes, "Miss. Kaoru…"

He was still laying outside, Sano kneeling beside him, "Yahiko?"

"They got him too. Megumi's okay though, just a bump on the head."

He nodded, summoned his strength and pushed himself up onto his elbows.

"Kenshin what the hell are you doing?"

He began to crawl toward the Dojo, blood dripping from his wound.

"Miss…Kaoru…"

"KENSHIN! Take it easy would ya? You're going to kill yourself."

The small man collapsed and then picked himself up again, continuing to crawl until he finally could go no further. He fell, his arm outstretched and he took Kaoru's ribbon in his hand, "Miss…Kaoru…"

Sano ran to his side and picked him up, the swordsman's body was slack, but he still held on to the ribbon, he was struggling for breath, his mouth wide open in a desperate search for air.

"Shit, I have to try to wake up Megumi," he ran into the Dojo and lay Kenshin on his futon and ran into the courtyard.

Megumi's eyes were already open.

"Megumi, Kenshin's in trouble, he needs you. I've gotta go find the Missy and Yahiko. Megumi? Can you hear me?"

She nodded, "I'll be fine Sano, you worry about Kaoru and Yahiko, I'll worry about Ken-san."

"Right. Keep him alive!"

"I'll do my best."

Kaoru opened her eyes slowly, the world was unfocused and spinning, "Kenshin."

"You awake Miss?"

Kaoru's face focused on Giovanni's sad, lined face.

"You! Leave me alone! Where's Kenshin?"

"I think he's probably dead," he said.

"NO!" Kaoru cried, "Why? He's not the Battousai anymore. He's a wanderer, a Rurouni, he's no harm to anyone. How could you do this?"

The man's face grew still more sad, "You love this man? This man who killed so many innocents?"

"He didn't kill innocents, he killed evil people…"

Giovanni's eyebrows drew down as he cut her off, "My wife was not evil. You are misinformed, or maybe delusional. All the Battousai did was kill people his master thought should die. There is no justice in that."

It was Kaoru's turn to get angry, "I know that. And Kenshin himself would be the first to admit that. If your logic is right, you should kill his master, not him. He was used, he was an instrument of death. They played upon his youth and idealism and," she touched her ring, "They pulled him down, and corrupted his heart. But he's not that man anymore, his heart is pure, he's a changed soul, you can't do this."

"I must…I made a promise to myself and my late wife that I would avenge her death."

"By spilling more blood?"

"If I must."

"Then your no better than the Battousai."

He raised his hand as if to strike her, and she flinched, but his hand never fell.

"I'm sorry Lady Kaoru. Very sorry."

She fiddled with her enagement ring, "You really killed him?"

"I don't know, but he wasn't moving when I took you."


End file.
